Tariffing

The customs definition of porcelain is not used to determine the material, but rather to determine import duties based on the cost of materials and use. Although there are also separate treatises and regulations in customs law, e.g. on the tariff classification of vitreous porcelain, the import duty notice ends with the words "porcelain". Customs itself knows a TARIC number for the group of imitation porcelain.

The classification in the tariff group 69.111.xxx - applicable for porcelain - cannot be used for a clear material determination - as some sly market participants abuse it for a false declaration of their offers. The tariff classification is used exclusively for the determination of import or export duties and, according to the company, is not a certificate for "the chemical determination of porcelain". This was based on the EEC Regulation 679-72, which was passed in 1972 and supplemented by Regulation 2080-91 in 1991 due to the emergence of new materials (e.g. Vitrous). Both regulations can be found in our product information under standards and specifications. Essentially, the chemical (industry standard) definition differs in that the customs authorities define the properties of porcelain with "or" and not with "and" as the chemist does:

Chemist: raw material and (+) firing temperature = porosity, hardness and light transmission
Inch: raw material, or porosity, or hardness or light transmission

Customs says "... porcelain is understood to be hard porcelain, soft porcelain, bisque porcelain (including parian) and bone china. These ceramic products are fully vitrified, hard and also unglazed not water-permeable, white or artificially colored, translucent (unless they are of considerable thickness) and lingering. Hard porcelain is made of a mixture of kaolin, quartz, feldspar and sometimes calcium carbonate. It is covered with a colorless and transparent glaze, which is produced at the same time as the firing of the mass, and is thus firmly fused with it.

Soft porcelain contains less clay but more silica and flux (e.g. feldspar), while bone china, which contains even less clay, is enriched with calcium phosphate by adding bone ash and can be fired translucently at lower temperatures than hard porcelain. The glaze is generally applied at an even lower temperature than hard porcelain before a second firing, which allows for a greater variety of decorations under the glaze.

Cookie porcelain is a matt (unglazed) porcelain. Parian (sometimes called Carrara porcelain) is a variety of bisque porcelain with a high content of feldspar, fine-grained and with a slight yellowish tinge; its appearance is reminiscent of Parsi marble, from which its name is derived.